In this week's blog I am going to outline how to develop a 30-Second Commercial.

A 30-Second Commercial for your business opportunity should quickly and succinctly describe what you do and why someone should work you or invest in you. I call it a 30-Second Commercial because is the challenge of how to explain your business opportunity if circumstances have you in a place where you had only 30 seconds with a potential major customer or that perfect investor.

You need this 30-Second commercial because people have less time today, their attention span is only 30 seconds before their mind starts wandering. If you don't grab them now you may lose them forever.

The elements of a good 30-Second Commercial are:

Concise Statement Describing Your Company (short & clear).

Contents: Introduction, interest generating idea, two key points, and a probe for need or opportunity.

Use words that create a visual image

A short story A good story is one where someone has a problem and finds the solution.

Targeted

One commercial for customers

One commercial for investors

One commercial for potential employees

Specific Desired Outcome

Sale

Investment

Referral

Hook

Request - You have to ask for something at the end of your commercial. What is it you want?

Business Card

A Referral

A meeting to schedule a full presentation

You should keep your commercial fresh. Change it periodically. Rehearse it so that it sounds natural.

I like the way that Salisbury University in Maryland suggests how to craft your 30-Second commercial. Here is what they say that you should do and I agree.

How to Craft Your Killer Elevator Pitch

Write down what you do. Write it several different ways. Try writing it at least 10-20 different ways. Don't edit yourself at all. You will edit later. This first step is for generating ideas. Don't hold back. Ideas can be goofy, serious, wild, funny, or conservative. It doesn't matter. The goal is to get at many ideas as possible down on paper.

Write a very short story that illustrates what you do for people. If necessary, the story can be long. You will boil it down later. Paint a picture with words.

Write down your objective or goal. Do you want to make a sale, gain a prospect, enlist support for an idea, earn a referral, or something else?

Write 10-20 action statements. This is a statement or question designed to spur the action associated with your goal.

Record yourself. You can use Jott if you don't have a recording device. Jott is a free phone based service that translates your messages into text as well as providing an online link to the original audio.

Let it sit. Come back to what you've written with fresh eyes and ears the next day or later on in the same day.

Highlight the good stuff. Listen and read through what you've recorded and written. Then either highlight or circle the phrases that hook you with clear, powerful, and visual words. Obviously not all the words will fall into these categories. You still need connector words, but you want them to be as few as possible.

Put the best pieces together. Again you'll want to write down several versions of this much tighter pitch. Tell us what you do and why people should want to do business with you. Include elements from your story if you can fit it in.

Record these new ones.

Do a final edit cutting as many unnecessary words as possible. Rearrange words and phrases until it sounds just right. Again, the goal is 30-60 seconds maximum.

Dress Rehearsal. Run it by as many people as you can get to listen to you. Get feedback from colleagues, clients you trust, friends and family.

Done for now. Take your final elevator pitch and write it down. Memorize and practice it until it just slides off your tongue naturally.

Continue to improve. Over time, always be on the listen for phrases that you think could make your elevator pitch more clear and impactful. And then test it out. Every once in a while you will probably benefit by starting from scratch because things always change: you, your business, your goals, and your clients' needs.